AN: Here it is. The chapter that ultimately made me cry a billion times. Thanks so much for reviews! And to those of you asking, yes, Red Arrow and Whisper have met before, albeit breifly(I'm really looking forward to going more in depth with their interaction).
Disclaimer: I don't own. If I did, I wouldn't have made Endgame so awful by making it so similar to Failsafe *SOB*.
This isn't real. This isn't real. This isn't real. That mantra was repeated in Whisper's head as he watched the footage from space. He had never liked death and right now, he just had to remember it wasn't really happening and he would be fine. A new screen popped up, displaying Zatara's face.
"Tornado, did you..."
"Yes, Zatara, we saw. Celestial defenses have failed. Initiate all terrestrial measures."
"Affirmative," said the magician. "See you in the field." With that, the screen shrunk before disappearing altogether.
Red Tornado turned toward the Team. "I must join the League. We will protect the planet at all costs; but should we fail, the responsibility falls to you."
"We stand ready."
Gritting his teeth was all Whisper could do as the last of the League was killed. This isn't real. This isn't real. Thankfully, Aqualad soon gained his attention.
"We are Earth's heroes now."
Superboy interrupted. "So what are we waiting for? A theme song?"
"A strategy," replied Aqualad. "Earth's weapons have proven ineffective and it has been made tragically clear a direct attack will not succeed."
"Checking satellite imagery." Anything to get his mind off of the conditions of the simulation. A holographic globe appeared, displaying varying degrees of red and blue. "Here's where the aliens are now."
Superboy pointed towards the top of the sphere. "This one get lost?"
The youngest recognized it instantly from hours spent studying various maps. "That's Superman's Fortress of Solitude!"
"Superman has a Fortress of Solitude?"
Whisper winced inwardly. One, he probably shouldn't even know about the Fortress' existence and two, his statement might cause further father-son issues between the two supers. Pushing it to the back of his mind, Whisper stated quickly, "It's power source must have attracted the alien's attention. At least enough to send a scout ship to investigate."
Superboy took a few steps away, muttering, "Must be some fortress." Miss Martian went after him, trying to console him, but Whisper tuned them out. That was their business, not his.
"We will target this lone ship," declared Aqualad.
"Yeah," Kid Flash agreed. "We'll break it down. Build more. Hit those ugly aliens with their own mojo. Ow!"
Artemis swiftly elbowed the speedster's chest before leaning in and murmuring, "Martian and Kryptonian in the house."
"Ah, not that all aliens are automatically ugly."
Whisper rolled his eyes at Kid Flash's tact. Smooth.
Miss Martian's announcement of, "Communications disabled," was quickly followed by, "Propulsion disabled."
Several seconds later, Artemis declared, "And ETs are sealed inside," prompting Kid Flash to start running, Whisper clinging to his back. The youngest was wearing the same thing he wore on regular missions, except everything was white and he wore his hood up. Personally, he never liked the color too much, but the situation demanded it. Once the pair were a few yards away from the ship, Whisper flipped upwards, landing cleanly beside Aqualad and pulling up his holo-computer.
"Identifying weapon's structural stress points and links to the ship." He rose and pointed in three different places. "Here, here, and here."
Miss Martian obediently launched psychic slices at the designated locations. Whisper continued to type away on his glove, taking a closer look at the alien's tech. However his attention was drawn by a bright flash, leading his head to straighten immediately. The teen instantly accounted for all of his teammates, noting that Superboy was a ways away in the snow, except for Wolf.
Whisper assumption was confirmed by Miss Martian's stricken declaration of, "Wolf."
"There was no indication of feedback, I-I'm sorry." Whisper absently wondered if nagging voice inside his head that made him feel responsible for every single death they encountered in the simulation would stay.
"Can't do anything for him now." Superboy reclaimed his spot on top of the ship, taking the gun in his grasp. "Let's go."
One hard tug later, Superboy and Miss Martian landed on the Bioship, where the latter placed both hands on the vessel. "Rerouting systems to integrate weapon into ship's bio-matrix." The rest of the Team, excluding Artemis, who was still working her way over, joined the two in standing on top of the Bioship. "I'll need to decamouflage for a few seconds." As she spoke, the ship returned to its regular, red coloring.
"May not have a few minutes," Whisper warned. Two alien crafts circled around, now heading in the teens' direction.
"Miss Martian, open fire," ordered Aqualad.
"Can't. Weapon systems are offline to incorporate the new cannon and that's not fully integrated yet either."
"Got you covered," Artemis called. "Get inside! I'm almost there!" She loosed three arrows at the attackers before turning in the Team's direction. Whisper felt dread rise in his stomach as only one was destroyed. The second landed harshly, but still managed to aim its cannon at the archer.
"Artemis, behind you!"
Artemis turned, an arrow ready to fly, but was cut off by a brilliant flash consuming her. Whisper watched in shock as her skeleton flashed bright white, before disappearing all together.
"ARTEMIS!"
The seriousness of the situation hit Whisper like a tidal wave. They were gone. Artemis was gone...Bruce was gone. All of the League was dead, forever. All of them were disintegrated, destroyed, demolished; they were never coming back.
"Artemis!"
"Get inside. All of you."
At that, Whisper shook himself free of his daze. When dealing with loss, no emotion. That was the rule that had gotten him through the past four years of his life so it had to work now, right? No emotion, no consequences; that was how it worked.
The teen instantly fell back into his old routine. Set jaw, flat eyes, clenched fists, all of it came naturally. Closing himself off was the best course of action in these situations. If he didn't, he would be punished.
"They're dead. Every single alien, if it's the last thing I do."
One part of Whisper wholeheartedly agreed, the part that still sounded like a blue-eyed, nine-year-old circus performer, but he quickly pushed it down. No emotion. No emotion. No emotion. That mantra was repeated in Whisper's head as he proceeded up the ramp into the Bioship.
Kid Flash's anguished cries greeted Whisper's ears, making his frown deepen. It was easier to act purely on tacts when he was surrounded by jerks, but here, with friends, it was becoming increasingly more difficult.
"There will be time to mourn later," proclaimed Aqualad. Whisper turned to face him, his hood now down to reveal his dark hair. "Now we have a job to do. Defend the Earth, and make sure Artemis' sacrifice was not in vain."
"Back to the Cave," Miss Martian questioned.
"The Hall of Justice. The human race must know that there are still heroes defending them. There is still hope."
Whisper glanced impassively over his shoulder at the soldiers behind him. He had changed back into his regular black attire (Thank goodness) and was now walking into the Hall of Justice with his Team and a few carefully selected officers.
Staring down at the stone, cowled head of Bruce Wayne, a sad, "They're really gone," slipped past his lips before he regained his composure. No emotion. No emotion.
His inner thoughts were interrupted by Miss Martian hurriedly tossing her uncle's statue into a pillar and shouting, "Uncle J'ohnn!"
Her flight in the hero's direction was stopped by Aqualad's outstretched arm. "M'gann, check his mind. Make sure he is who he appears to be."
A second passed before she exclaimed mentally, "It's him! He's real! And he's alive!"
Whisper's eyes narrowed. A supposedly dead Justice Leaguer shows up out of nowhere? Good things didn't just come out of the blue like that.
The teen's thoughts were narrowed by Superboy. "But we saw you get disintegrated! You and Superman! And everyone!"
"Yes," Martian Manhunter said as Miss Martian helped him to his feet. "I remember. But I cannot remember how I survived. Or how I arrived here."
"Maybe you were density shifting and the beam passed right through you," Miss Martian suggested.
"Scrambling your brains along the way," interjected Kid Flash.
"My mind is clouded, but I feel certain I had something important to tell you..."
"Hello Wally!" The Team turned to face Kid Flash at his sudden outburst. "Come on!"
Once Kid Flash finished his Zeta Beam theory pow-wow, Whisper felt a small amount of hope rise up in him...only to be pushed to the side by the arrival of over a dozen alien ships.
"We're on our way," proclaimed Aqualad.
"Negative; we can't win this. Miss Martian, camo the Bioship." Whisper's command was cut of by the sudden destruction of said craft, causing the familiar presence of the mind link to suddenly waver. Seconds later, the connection strengthened, allowing Kid Flash and Whisper to contact the Team. "We're falling back," he notified as several soldiers and the two heroes proceeded indoors.
Running into the League's library, Whisper listened attentively to Aqualad's idea. "We can all Zeta to the Cave." Turning his head to Martian Manhunter, he continued, "If you can grant us computer clearance to access the tubes."
"I can only authorize one at a time."
"Send the soldiers first."
"Delay that!" The vigilantes turned to face General Eiling. "You six are assets we can not afford to use."
Aqualad nodded, signaling Martian Manhunter to step forward. In his usual, calming voice, he said, "Override. Martian Manhunter 0-7."
"Recognized. Access granted."
At the computer's statement, Miss Martian stepped up, only to disappear with the sound, "Miss Martion. B-0-4"
Whisper quickly followed, soon consumed with light and with, "Whisper B-0-7," echoing in his ears.
"Our next mission is clear. If we believe the aliens have been teleporting their victims-."
"We do." Did it not matter that Whisper doubted the League was still alive?
"-Then the only reasonable detention facility is here." A holographic image of a pointy, black figure with red patches appeared. "Their mothership, atop what used to be Smallville." Turning hopefully back to Martian Manhunter (Whisper still didn't quite understand why he was still being hopeful when he needed to focus purely on getting his job done), he asked, "Ring any bells?"
"No, I'm sorry."
Expecting this, Whisper immediately turned to the resident Kryptonian. "Superboy, you'll create a distraction."
"No! He's offering you as a sacrifice! Aqualad would never do that!"
"You're right, Aqualad would sacrifice himself. A mistake that just cost us our leader. And in case you don't remember, we agreed that in the case of his...absence, I would take command." Reminding himself to stay on track, Whisper continued. "Superboy is the most likely to be perceived as a threat, motivating the aliens to deploy."
"Worst case," said Kid Flash, "He's teleported inside and we set him free along with Artemis...and uh, Aqualad and everyone."
Whisper took a deep breath as Superboy and Miss Martian clearly shared a mental, romantic moment. He knew he was saving the world, so why was it that, deep down, he felt like he was back with the Talons, aiming a gun at an innocent man's face?
It took some convincing, several puppy dog faces, and half a dozen threats, but eventually, Whisper agreed to join in on the video the Team was going to broadcast around the world.
Once his little speech was over (He convinced himself the Talons wouldn't come after him if the world was ending), Whisper and the Team set out for Smallville. Whisper stood on the stump to a huge tree, scouting the mothership with binoculars. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Miss Martian come up to him. Lowering his hands, he turned to face her.
"Stay close to J'ohnn. He's still..." Whisper trailed off, moving his hand from side to side. The Martian nodded solemnly.
Turning back to his remaining teammates, Whisper ordered, "First team, deploy." The teen watched as Martian Manhunter and his niece flew into the night sky, soon becoming invisible.
Several seconds later, Miss Martian reported, "Ready. In position."
Whisper turned to face the Kryptonian. At his nod, Superboy launched into the hair, blowing the younger's hair away from his eyes. Once Superboy was out of sight, a few thunks and yells followed. "Careful," Whisper warned. "Don't disconnect the power source."
Once a few stray beams flew into sight, Whisper climbed onto Kid Flash's back. Moments later, Superboy reached Whisper's head. "Now or never."
Kid Flash immediately started running and Whisper held on tighter. Out of all his training, going for a piggy-back ride on a speedster was never included. Focus, Whisper chided himself. There's no time to be joking around. Just push those thoughts out. No emotion.
The two landed into a neat roll before running into the ship and into a niche. Waiting until a ship passed, Whisper dashed out, calling, "Way is clear. Go!" Whisper and Kid Flash ran past several (thankfully) de-powered ships before stopping at a pillar seemingly made of wires. The teens peered to their left, watching a machine float past them. However, their attention was drawn by a loud clunk from the opposite direction.
Whisper turned and, easily spotting the blemishes in the air, nodded, leading Kid Flash and the two Martians onward.
A few more turns were made before Whisper glanced back and noticed Miss Martian had stopped. Turning, he began to make his way back to her and her uncle.
"No," Miss Martian began. "He's gone!"
She collapsed, only to be grasped by Kid Flash. Whisper slowly made he way over to the group. He knew what was coming; he had known the moment he launched the first scan.
"It's alright," Kid Flash insisted. "We'll find him with Artemis. I know it."
"No." The teens turned to face Martian Manhunter. "My mind is clearer now. The disintegration beam is exactly that. There is no detention facility; no prisoners to rescue. Our mission knows no purpose."
Standing, Kid Flash grasped the front of the elder's cape. "No, you're wrong! The Zeta radiation proves she's alive! She's-."
Whisper stepped forward and grabbed the speedster by the collar. "Stop it, KF! I've been scanning for League and Team signals since we got inside. They're not here. Artemis is gone." Even though Whisper had known that they were gone, he still felt a slight burning in his throat. No emotion. No emotion. "But," he continued, "Our mission still holds purpose. To destroy this mothership." With that, Whisper turned on his heel and headed towards their destination.
Had he been completely honest with himself, he would've known that he left so abruptly to spare himself the heartbroken looks his teammates were displaying.
Kid Flash was a science prodigy, prompting him to be considered very bright for a boy his age. However, staring at the teen he had come to see as a good friend, maybe even his best friend, he was confused.
"You knew. You knew from the beginning why we were really here."
The speedster was almost surprised to see Whisper's expression when he turned away from his glove, key word: almost. It was obvious that Whisper had been through a lot and in the last day, the teen had retreated into himself. Kid Flash figured it was kind of like a defense mechanism, something Whisper had set up around himself without even realizing it. But that didn't fully prepare the red-head for the flat look in Whisper's eyes.
Usually, they would have at least have a spark of mischief in them, or maybe a hint of sadness; Kid Flash, being the food-obsessed speedster he was, had compared Whisper's eyes to chocolate before. Now, the only thing relevant would be muddy water: flat, emotionless, and all one color. No insight as to what his companion was thinking was given to Kid Flash, and somehow, that scared him almost as much as the alien invasion did.
Kid Flash's worries only deepened as Whisper declared, totally devoid of any feeling, "Four minutes. Let's go."
He didn't know why Whisper was acting like this, but all he knew was that he wanted his best friend back.
Death, Dick had decided, was a funny thing. It always took, leaving nothing in its wake and tore apart the happiest of families. Whether the cause be sabotaged ropes or fiery explosions, at the end of the day, death was still death.
It still changed lives and ripped loved ones from one another, not caring who it left behind. In a way, death reminded Dick of the Talons, maybe even himself in some ways. At a time, before he had been instructed to kill an innocent person each day, for thirty days straight, Dick himself had been considered ruthless. The Talons had embedded that in him, but death had caused it.
Death had taken away his family, all five members of it, and dumped him in an isolated base in the middle of Europe. Death had taken hold of thirty, blameless civilians under an hour after Dick had been forced to look them in the eyes and shoot them. Death had been the cause of every big change in Dick's life.
Death, Dick mused, was a funny thing. It could take away everything, leaving you stripped to the bone. But, at the same time, it could also give you the one thing you wanted more than anything.
When Dick-not Whisper, he refused to die as Whisper-felt the pain of the flames licking at his skin, he absentmindedly wondered if it was normal to be utterly happy...
When you were dying?
When Whisper opened his eyes, he was confused. Completely, totally, entirely confused. We was hot, sweating, alive, and...crying? Swiftly swiping a hand along one cheek, the teen prayed no one noticed. Raising himself into a sitting position, Whisper looked around. Either the afterlife was a lot like real life or he wasn't dead.
Hearing M'gann exclaim, "You're all alive," he decided on the latter. Was it bad he was slightly disappointed that he was still alive?
Whisper turned to face Batman as he helped Martian Manhunter to his feet. "What happened in there?"
"The exercise...it all went wrong," stated the Martian, a hand to his forehead.
"Exercise?" As in mental, not real exercise? As in faked deaths and staged occurrences exercise? Whisper's breathing sped up slightly, but not enough for anyone to notice.
"Try to remember. What you experienced was a training exercise. Manhunter psychically linked the six of you within and artificial reality. You all knew this going in. What you didn't know was that it was a train-for-failure exercise. No matter what the Team accomplished, the scenario was designed to grow worse. Still, you were aware nothing was real, including the deaths of the entire Justice League."
Whisper winced unnoticeably at Batman's urgent tone. It was way too similar to the calm-hiding-a-storm voice his old mentor had-no. No thinking about that. Just block it out. No emotion. Come on Grayson, no emotion already!
The teen tuned back into the explanation in time to hear Manhunter explain just how the exercise had ended up so awful. "...Changed when Artemis died. Though consciously, Miss Martian knew it was not real, her subconscious mind could not make the distinction. She forgot it was only an exercise. And her subconscious took control, making all of you forget, too."
Whisper listened half-heartedly to the rest of the clarification. He had already gotten the gist of what had happened, but real or not, it had still happened.
AN: In case any of you are wondering, in YJ, Dick becomes Bruce as a backup in 'Failsafe.' In this, he becomes what always got him through the times with the Talons: emotionless. He's supposed to be a little emotionally unhinged because he never had anyone to help him get through his parents death; he's still hurting, even though he hides it.
Next chapter will have a boatload of angst, so bring your raincoats!
-GSDLover